In accordance with the AGH Doctoral School Study Regulations, hereinafter referred to as the Study Regulations, a doctoral student has the right to suspend the course of education for the period of time equivalent to the period of maternity leave, maternity-type leave, paternity leave or parental leave as set out in the Act of 26 June 1974 on the Labour Code, in accordance with § 3 section 1 point 7 of the Study Regulations.
The course of education may be suspended by a doctoral student for a period corresponding to the duration of maternity leave in the amount of:
1) 20 weeks – in the case of the birth of one child at one birth;
2) 31 weeks – in the case of the birth of two children at one birth;
3) 33 weeks – in the case of the birth of three children at one birth;
4) 35 weeks – in the case of the birth of four children at one birth;
5) 37 weeks – in the case of the birth of five or more children at one birth.
Before the expected date of delivery, the doctoral student may suspend her course of education for no longer than 6 weeks.
After childbirth, a doctoral student is entitled to suspend the course of education for the period not used before childbirth until the full-time is used up (20 weeks or more in the case of the birth of at least two children at one birth), in accordance with Article 180 § 1 - § 3 of the Labour Code.
In the event of stillbirth or death of a child, the course of education may be suspended for the period corresponding to the duration of maternity leave in accordance with the rules for granting such leave contained in Article 1801 § 1 of the Labour Code.
In special cases, such as a certificate of the child's mother's inability to live independently, the child's mother staying in a hospital or other treatment facility of a medical entity performing medical activities such as stationary and round-the-clock health services due to a health condition that prevents her from providing personal care for the child, the death of the child's mother during maternity leave, abandonment of the child by the child's mother during leave maternity leave, the course of education of a doctoral student may be suspended for a period corresponding to the part of maternity leave not taken by the child's mother, in accordance with the rules for granting such leave contained in Article 180 § 6 - § 17 of the Labour Code.
A doctoral student raising a child has the right, immediately after using the suspension of the course of education for the period corresponding to the duration of maternity leave, to suspend the course of education for the period corresponding to the duration of supplementary maternity leave – in the case of the birth of a child with low birth weight, in accordance with the rules for granting this leave contained in Article 1802 § 1 - § 7 of the Labour Code.
The course of education may be suspended by a doctoral student for the period corresponding to the duration of parental leave in order to take care of a child up to:
1) 32 weeks – in the case of the birth of one child at one birth;
2) 34 weeks in the case of the birth of at least two children at one birth, in accordance with Article 1821a § 1, § 3, § 4 of the Labour Code.
The course of education may be suspended by a doctoral student for the period corresponding to the duration of parental leave in order to take care of a child who has a certificate referred to in Article 4(3) of the Act of 4 November 2016 on support for pregnant women and families "For life", in order to take care of that child up to:
1) 56 weeks – in the case of the birth of one child at one birth;
2) 58 weeks – in the case of the birth of at least two children at one birth, in accordance with Article 1821a § 2, § 3, § 4 of the Labour Code.
The suspension of the course of education for the period corresponding to the duration of parental leave is made in one lump sum or no more than in 5 parts no later than until the end of the calendar year in which the child turns 6 years old, in accordance with Article 1821c of the Labour Code.
The course of education may be suspended by a doctoral student in order to take care of a child for a period corresponding to the duration of paternity leave of up to 2 weeks, but not longer than:
1) the child reaches the age of 12 months, or
2) the lapse of 12 months from the date of the decision administering the adoption of the child becoming final and no longer than until the child reaches the age of 14, in accordance with Article 1823 § 1 of the Labour Code.
The suspension of the course of education for the period corresponding to the duration of paternity leave is made in one lump sum or not more than in 2 parts, none of which may be shorter than a week, in accordance with Article 1823 § 11 of the Labour Code.
In the case of admission of a child to be raised as a foster family, with the exception of a professional foster family, the course of education of a doctoral student may be suspended in accordance with the rules for granting maternity leave, leave under the conditions of maternity leave, parental leave, contained in Article 183 of the Labour Code.
The suspension of the course of education is made by the School Director at the request of the doctoral student (in accordance with § 26 section 1 of the Study Regulations) on the form made available by the School, with attachments:
APPLICATION FORM FOR SUSPENSION OF THE COURSE OF EDUCATION
The requested period of suspension should be expressed in full weeks, where a week corresponds to 7 calendar days.
If the doctoral student does not take advantage of the suspension of the course of education before the expected date of childbirth, the first day of the period of suspension of the course of education for the duration of maternity leave is the day of childbirth.
An application for suspension of the course of education should be submitted to the AGH Doctoral School by the following deadline:
During the period of suspension of the course of education, the amount of the doctoral scholarship shall be determined on the basis of relevant provisions concerning the method of determining the rates of statutory maternity benefit, where the base amount for the calculation of the benefit shall be the amount of the monthly doctoral scholarship referred to in Article 209(4) of the Act of 20 July 2018 Law on Higher Education and Science, in force on the date of submission of the application for suspension, in accordance with § 5 section 2 of the General Rules of Doctoral Scholarships Awarded to Doctoral School Students.
The doctoral scholarship is due, in accordance with Article 31 of the Act of 25 June 1999 on social security cash benefits in the event of sickness and maternity, for the period of suspension of the course of education in the following amounts:
In connection with the suspension of the course of education, time limits set out in the doctoral student’s Individual Research Plan, including the date of the Interim Assessment, will be extended by the duration of period of suspension, in accordance with § 26 section 3 of the Study Regulations.
A doctoral student must submit a statement of resumption of the suspended course of study within 14 days of the last day of the period of suspension. Doctoral students failing to submit such a declaration within the 14-day time limit will be deemed to have resigned from the course of study at the School, in accordance with § 26 section 4 of the Study Regulations.
FORM OF THE STATEMENT OF RESUMPTION OF THE SUSPENDED COURSE OF EDUCATION
Note: The above English text regarding the rules for suspending the course of education was developed based on the sources below.
Sources:
Act of 20 July 2018 Law on Higher Education and Science [PL]
The Act of 26 June 1974 Labour Code [PL]
Act of 25 June 1999 on social security cash benefits in the event of sickness and maternity [PL]